Washington DC : Unarmed Russian Airforce jet flies over Pentagon

An unarmed Russian Air Force aircraft overflew the US Capitol, the Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency and Joint Base Andrews at low altitude on Wednesday as part of a longstanding treaty that allows the militaries of the United States and Russia to observe the other from the air, according to two people familiar with the flight.

The flight was part of the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows military aircraft from the United States and Russia and other nations to fly aerial observation flights to observe military sites of the 34 signatory nations.

The Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-154 on Wednesday afternoon passed at around 3,700 feet over downtown Washington and Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where Air Force One is based, according to tracking website Flightradar24.

United States Air Force personnel were on the flight and the aircraft is capable of a variety of intelligence gathering, one of the people said.

The Open Skies Treaty has been in effect since 2002 and over 1,200 flights have been conducted since, which contributes to verification of compliance with arms control agreements, according to the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Dan Gaffney, spokesman for the DTRA, declined to confirm the surveilled targets. The agency can only confirm specific locations once a mission is over.

Law enforcement agencies were given very little warning of these “short notice” flights, which are authorized by the treaty. The Russian aircraft has the ability to perform a variety of intelligence gathering functions, including aerial photography, thermal imaging, and picking up signals intelligence.

According to the DTRA, Open Skies flights receive air traffic control priority and are closely coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The US Capitol Police sent an alert regarding plans of an aircraft to overfly Washington between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

“The aircraft will be large and may fly directly over the US Capitol,” according to the alert. “This flight will be monitored by the US Capitol Police Command Center and other federal government agencies.”